Season 10 - Episode 1 - Playing God
by NateHevens
Summary: The 13th Doctor, along with Romana, faces a new threat on Earth, from a new Time Lord, who is trying to start a religious war on Earth... one he hopes to bring to the galaxy. Can the Doctor and Romana stop him before wreaks havoc on Earth and elsewhere? Episode one of a new season for Capaldi's Doctor.
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor pushed the last button on his console, and took time to survey his and the TARDIS's handiwork. Ever since restoring Gallifrey and destroying the Daleks for good, the Doctor had been taking time off to make a change. With Romana as the president of Gallifrey, the Time Lords had resumed their role of watchers, never interfering. The Doctor was allowed to choose his reward for saving Gallifrey and destroying the Daleks, and he chose only to be left alone. He told them to let him do his thing, travel the universe, and help out when asked. Romana's response was only that the Doctor be available if she needed his help, allow advancing civilizations to advance naturally, and to avoid fixed points in time as much as possible. He agreed.

Things were quiet, however, so he decided to take the time to redecorate, and expand, his TARDIS.

The control room was noticeably brighter, now, with an off-white color, and, while still two levels, much smaller. The time-rotor no longer reached up to the ceiling, but instead sunk into the console, coming out in flight. The console itself was controlled both by buttons and by touch-screen controls. The viewing screen was back in the TARDIS wall, and was much bigger. The Doctor also got his round things back. So many of them. It gave the walls a very honeycomb look, like the TARDIS was when he first found her. He was very happy about that. That was his main goal… getting back the round things. He still didn't know what they were or what they were for, but he loved them.

The Doctor started exploring. He passed by the armchair next to the console and headed to the lower level. It was a bit darker under there because of the shadow of the console. Down here, the console itself was bigger, because in order to repair it, you had to step inside. The Doctor did just that, to survey his and the TARDIS's handiwork. Together, they had made the set-up much more organized. Now wires and knobs and electrical bits were color-coded and mapped. The Doctor knew where everything was, even if he didn't quite understand what everything was for. He had finally fixed the navigation, as well. Now the accuracy of his travels was assured.

The Doctor exited the console and headed into a corridor. Yet another thing he was particularly proud of was the installation of an inter-TARDIS navigation system. Now, no matter where a room ended up, you didn't have to worry about losing it; just follow the walls. The TARDIS will tell you where to go… if she wants to. "We did well, didn't we?" the Doctor mused as he patted the wall of the TARDIS.

From a room down the hall, a ding was heard. "Aha! It's ready! Can't wait to see if my programming took!" The Doctor nearly ran into his work room, where his new sonic screwdriver had just finished uploading. This room was more disorganized than the rest of the TARDIS, but that was okay. It was the only room without the round things. Instead, the walls and ceiling were all chalk board, so he could work out his calculations. There was a desk in there, a Gallifreyan computer, and lots of tools. Some tools from Earth, but many more from Gallifrey.

In this room, he had been tinkering with his previous self's screwdriver for quite some time. He removed the extension and claws, which he felt were cumbersome and pointless, and shrunk it a bit in size. It was a teeny bit wider, however, to make room for an actual read-out screen, which flashed information and programming in Gallifreyan.

The programming he was excited about was rather hefty, so he wasn't sure if it would work. He had backed up the screwdriver's initial programming because this new programming would mean the loss of a lot of the old stuff. The Doctor wanted to use it to get more control of things at a quantum level. One feature of the programming he created was its ability to work on wood. That was his main goal. But it also allowed him to do more specific experiments with matter at lower levels. And, ideally, actually allow him to see the quantum world as it is when it's not being viewed.

Of course, the space needed for the program meant that, at a normal level, the sonic was back to being less of a weapon and more of a scientific instrument again. Now he couldn't use the sonic to defeat enemies unless such defeat required quickly building a cabinet around them to trap them in. Or unless those creatures were quantum creatures, the existence of which had only been hypothesized by Time Lords, but never discovered.

The Doctor picked up his new sonic screwdriver and surveyed the screen. "Well, it looks like the new program installed fine. No faults, no hiccups. So let's test it."

The Doctor pointed the sonic at the desk. "Now… let's see what one of the atoms looks like". He pressed the sonic's only button, and suddenly, one piece of the desk started to zoom in. The image surrounded the Doctor and kept zooming in until the electrons and nucleus of an atom came into view.

"Calcium!" the Doctor exclaimed. "It's incredible!" The electrons whizzed and zoomed around him, unaware of his presence. He noted how often one electron would pop up in different places at once, and how others would disappear and reappear. He, watched, mesmerized, for a few more minutes, before deciding to zoom in to the nucleus. He pressed the button again, aiming his sonic at the nucleus. Suddenly, he was inside it. His work room, at this point, was gone from his view entirely, as he watched a dense clump of protons and neutrons vibrate together. This wasn't as exciting as the cloud of electrons, so he decided to zoom in on a proton.

Now things were getting interesting. The Doctor was now inside the quantum field of the proton. Inside, the three quarks were holding the proton together. But between them, virtual quarks and antiquarks were everywhere and yet nowhere. It was amazing how empty and yet how active this place was. It was a contradiction. It did not fit into reality, and yet is was very real.

The Doctor mused about the possibility of going smaller. How far in would he have to zoom to see the Higgs field itself? But the sound of the TARDIS phone ringing brought him out of his reverie, reminding him that he was still in the TARDIS.

_That could only be Romana. No one else has the new number. _The Doctor had gotten a new number on the TARDIS's phone. _Why is she calling me?_ "Answer the phone, on speaker." That was another change he was proud of. The phone was voice controlled, and he had wired it into the TARDIS's telecom system, letting the conversation happen wherever he happened to be in the TARDIS, without having to hold a receiver. He didn't understand why he hadn't thought of doing that before.

"Hello, Doctor."

"Hello, Romana! I'm sure your calling with an emergency of some kind, but you would not believe what I'm seeing right now! You know that new program I told you I was developing for my sonic? It works!"

"Well perhaps you'll get a chance to show me soon. There's a threat on Terra. It needs to be controlled, or it could become a problem for the whole galaxy, if not the universe."

"And you need me to deal with it?"

"I thought you'd enjoy the chance to go to Terra, Doctor."

"I can go to the earth any time I like. What's the emergency?"

"I'd rather tell you in person."

"In person?"

"You'll need to come pick me up. Myself and a few of the Guard will be coming along."

"The Guard!? I don't want them in here!"

"Doctor…"

"… why?"

"You'll understand when you get here. Now, please, I need you. Set your coordinates for the…"

"…the Citadel. Got it, Romana. I'll be there shortly."

"Thank you."

Romana hung up, and the Doctor pressed a button on his sonic, zooming back out of the desk and closing the presentation. He made his way back to the console room, up the stairs, and to the console, where he pulled up the saved coordinates and made his way to the Citadel, where Romana was waiting for him.


	2. Chapter 2

When the TARDIS rematerialized in the citadel, the Doctor stepped out to see Romana herself waiting for him with a huge smile.

"Hug, Doctor?"

"Please no."

"Oh dear. We're going to have do something about your dislike of hugs. How are you?" Romana stepped back, smiling. She was still in her fourth incarnation. She was rather fond of it. She loved her long, straight, dark hair, and her bubbly, almost child-like (to the Doctor, anyways) personality. The Doctor had known all four of her incarnations since his fourth, and was still waiting for her to change, just to see what she would go with next.

He did notice something different, though.

"You seem younger than when I last saw you. Almost as if you've somehow gone backwards in age physically."

"Oh? I hadn't noticed." Romana looked coy.

"What happened? How have you managed to de-age? You've been in your fourth incarnation for a very long time."

Romana grinned mischievously and raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think this is my fourth incarnation?"

The Doctor was taken aback. "You mean you _have_ regenerated?"

"Of course! This is my fifth!"

"And you kept your look?"

"Yup. Just made it younger looking again."

"Why?"

"Why not? I _love_ this look. My favorite one so far, absolutely."

"I did that once. Cost me my regenerations."

"Yes, but you got new ones."

"Still don't know how I feel about that."

"You'll be worrying about that for a long time, won't you, Doctor?"

"I'm still worried about the Valeyard."

"And how do you know he's still to come?"

"Because I still remember the trial. If I've averted him, that wouldn't have happened, and I wouldn't still remember it."

"Very true. Well, come along. We have a lot to discuss."

"This problem, on Earth?"

"Quite. It's worrying for us, because of the danger it represents. But it should bother you, because we know how much you love humans, and it's playing with their… superstitions."

"What do you mean?"

"All in good time, Doctor. Come along. We're going to my office."

"Why? What's there?"

"The answer to your question."

"Romana. I'm not sure being mysterious works for you."

Romana stopped and turned to the Doctor, a wry half-smile on her face. "So I'm not allowed to be, then?"

"I don't know… I'm not too sure it suits you."

Romana played at being hurt, putting on a frown. "Oh Doctor. Must you be so mean?"

"I thought I was being honest…"

Romana turned back around and they resumed walking.

"All right. Look. Someone on Terra is claiming to be God. Problem is, a lot of people there are calling him the Anti-Christ. They think Armageddon is coming. And it may prove to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, too, because a war is brewing down there thanks to him. And with their nuclear arsenals, it could prove to be their last war."

"So why do you want to interfere, Romana? I mean, I see why you thought I'd be interested, but why are you?"

They had reached the doors of her office when Romana turned to the Doctor, this time with a very grave and almost angry look on her face. "He's been active for a few months, now. He started in Israel, and has been traveling the world, giving speeches. He's now in Ireland."

"Well okay. I'm still not seeing…."

"…he's causing a lot of problems on Terra, and has started attracting other non-Terran life, as well. And as part of his 'miracles', he's breaking a number of the laws of time. He's even broken the first, crossing his own time-stream as one of his 'miracles'." They entered Romana's office and walked to her desk. She handed the Doctor a folder.

"So why not just go back to right before he started and arrest him?"

"Because, Doctor. His entire timeline, including his arrival to his most recent speech and demonstration, has been locked as a fixed point in time."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "What?" He opened the folder.

"He's creating fixed points in time to ensure that no one can go back to stop him before he starts. Since the Daleks are gone, only one race in the universe has that power."

The Doctor and Romana looked at each other, and they both opened their mouths at the same time to say it:

"Time Lord."


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor and Romana entered the Panopticon, where the Guard were waiting for them. One, the head of the Guard, approached them both.

"Doctor. Madame President."

"Ah, hello," responded the Doctor. "You're new. What's your name?"

"Commander Maraxus, sir."

"Well, Commander Maraxus. Do me a favor and _never_ call me sir."

"Apologies, Doctor. The President told us we were to be a bit more informal around you. You're not a fan of all the…"

"...the theatrics, yes. If you're going to come on my TARDIS, I have no problem with you following orders and having decorum, but please, try to act a bit normal and… well… not entirely soldier-like."

Commander Maraxus looked at Romana.

"I told you to listen to him. He's the Castellan for this one."

The Doctor turned to Romana.

"What?! No!"

"Apologies, Doctor. I forgot to tell you. But you have priority with this, because your knowledge of Terran is beyond the rest of us. It makes sense."

"Romana, I'm not okay with this."

"Oh it's not permanent! Can you really not handle it, even for a little while?"

"Where _is_ the Castellan?"

"We don't have one at the moment," said Commander Maraxus. "Romana is acting Castellan, as well as President, for now."

"Quite right, Commander. And as President, I'm temporarily making _you_ acting Castellan, Doctor."

The Doctor sighed. "I get the feeling that I don't have much choice, do I?"

Romana smiled. "I'm sorry again. It just makes the most sense."

"Fine." The Doctor turned back to Commander Maraxus and the rest of the Chancellery Guard. "Well, I guess I'll be the oddest Castellan you've ever served. I don't want to be saluted, I don't want to be called sir, I don't want any standing at attention around me… answer to me, fine. Listen to me, fine. But don't… and I mean _don't_… treat me as a soldier."

"Very well, Doctor. Should we be off?"

"One moment. Romana, what safeguards have you put in place while you're gone?" Romana smiled. The Doctor heard steps coming down the stairs from behind him. He turned around to see…

"You…" the Doctor rounded on Romana. "_You_ mean to tell me you crossed your _own_ time stream?"

"Oh relax, Doctor!" Said the woman coming down the stairs. "I'm a matrix data slice. I've been in the matrix for a very long time. Trey saw fit to bring me out to act as President while she was gone."

The Doctor wasn't surprised. "Your second incarnation, Romana, stored in the matrix as a data slice. But why your second incarnation? Why not just appoint someone?"

"To be honest, Doctor, I'm not very trusting of those in a position to hold my place right now," said Romana IV. "There's a lot of internal politics I'm desperately hoping not to involve you in. Times are very good on Gallifrey right now, but there are a few who aren't… happy. However, more than enough Time Lords and Gallifreyans were happy to have my second incarnation for a limited time, so she's who we went with. And as a plus, as a data slice, she can't be harmed out here, and the control allowing her to exist out here is on my person. So there's nothing the few detractors can do about it."

"Well then."

"Oh it's good to see you again, Doctor," said Romana II. "And on your second set of regenerations, too. How does it feel?"

"I'm not sure, yet. I'll let you know once I figure it out?"

"Do." Romana II turned to look at her current incarnation. "You should be off, Trey."

"You're absolutely right." Romana IV turned to the Doctor. "Shall we?"

The Doctor, Romana, and the Guard all left, waving goodbye to Romana II. They headed back to the Doctor's TARDIS and headed inside.

"Ooh! You've redecorated."

"Romana, if you're about to tell me you don't like…"

"… actually, I love it. It's nice and cheery. And quaint. Looks like the original design for the Type 40, only with two levels. That's clever."

"Ah. Um… thank you. Now…"

The five guards went and surrounded the console. The Doctor gave them a puzzled look.

"What are you doing?"

"Well," responded Commander Maraxus, "aren't these Type 40's supposed to be piloted by six people?"

"I've been piloting it myself for over two thousand years, now. Besides… do you know how to fly this?"

Another one of the Guard turned to the Doctor. "We've all been trained in flying all TT types. There's not one we aren't familiar with."

The Doctor turned to Romana. "I'm used to flying it myself."

"Do you want them to let you?"

The Doctor turned to look at them. He sighed. "No. I suppose it's better when piloted by six people." The Doctor took his place at the head of the console and entered the coordinates. "Earth. Dublin, Ireland. December 11, 2014. 10am. Is that right, Romana?"

"Indeed it is, Doctor."

"Well… let's go."


End file.
